The SPN dismissed claims by the Federal Government that the new tax laws are intended to boost revenue for investment in education, healthcare, infrastructure, or to reduce poverty and inequality.
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s tax reform laws, describing them as a calculated agenda to increase state revenue for looting and the continued servicing of what it called the opulent lifestyle of a reckless political class, while pushing deeper hardship onto workers and the poor.
In a joint statement signed by Comrade Bamigboye Abiodun, Acting National Chairperson, and Chinedu Bosah, National Secretary, the SPN rejected the justifications advanced by the Tinubu-led government for the controversial tax reforms, which it said took effect from January 1, 2026.
According to the party, taxing workers and the poor under Nigeria’s current economic realities amounts to double jeopardy, insisting that the policy will deepen mass poverty, inequality, and suffering across the country.
The SPN dismissed claims by the Federal Government that the new tax laws are intended to boost revenue for investment in education, healthcare, infrastructure, or to reduce poverty and inequality.
It argued that similar promises were made during the removal of fuel subsidy, a policy which, it noted, has instead left millions of Nigerians poorer due to soaring inflation and a sharply increased cost of living, without any meaningful improvement in public services.
Citing a recent World Bank–linked assessment, the party said more than 60 percent of Nigerians, over 130 million people, now live in poverty, representing a sharp increase from pre-2023 figures.
It added that multidimensional poverty indicators show severe deprivation in access to healthcare, education, decent housing, clean water, and electricity, particularly in rural areas where poverty levels often exceed 70 percent.
The statement said, "A recent World Bank–linked assessment indicates that over 60 percent of Nigerians now live in poverty, amounting to well over 130 million people and a sharp rise compared to pre-2023 figures.
“Multidimensional poverty indicators further reveal widespread deprivation in access to healthcare, education, decent housing, clean water, and electricity, particularly in rural areas where poverty levels often exceed 70 percent.
"These realities despite the official report of modest GDP growth of around 3 percent in the recent years expose the hollowness of government’s claims that new tax measures will alleviate poverty or reduce inequality by the time it improves country revenue base."
The SPN argued that imposing additional tax burdens on workers and the poor lacks both moral and political legitimacy, especially in a country where basic amenities such as stable electricity, potable water, motorable roads, affordable healthcare, quality public education, and security are either grossly inadequate or completely absent.
“In reality, working people are compelled to privately provide electricity through generators, water through boreholes, security through vigilante arrangements, and even roads and schools through community self-help,” the party said, adding that subjecting the same people to more taxes under this circumstance amounts to multiple taxation and an outright punishment for government failure.
While acknowledging the government’s claim that the reforms are progressive, including the increase of the tax-exempt income threshold from ₦300,000 to ₦800,000 annually, the SPN described the move as grossly inadequate.
It argued that, given the current cost-of-living crisis worsened by fuel subsidy removal and naira devaluation, anyone earning below ₦200,000 monthly, or ₦2.4 million annually, should be exempt from income tax.
According to the party, ordinary Nigerians now pay heavily for food, education, healthcare, electricity, water, and security due to the government’s abandonment or poor funding of social programmes.
Contrary to official claims that up to 97 or 98 percent of workers are exempt from income tax, the SPN said many low-income workers remain liable under the new regime, as inflation and hidden deductions erode their earnings.
It added that workers who take on additional informal jobs to survive would end up paying even more tax.
It said, "We of the SPN believe that anybody who earns less than N200,000 per month (N2.4m annually) should be exempt from income tax. This is because of the excruciatingly high cost of living and government’s abandonment or poor funding of social program, such that at present ordinary people have to pay high prices for food, education and healthcare, produce their own electricity or pay high tariff, provide their own water and security among other basic needs.
"In other words, contrary to the claim of the government, under the new tax reform many ordinary workers who are already struggling with food insecurity, high transport costs, rent, and education and healthcare expenses, remain liable to taxation.
“This shows that the claim by government officials and mouthpieces that up to 97 or 98 percent of workers are exempt from income tax rely on technical assumptions that fail to reflect the lived reality of workers whose earnings are eroded daily by inflation and hidden deductions.”
“The reality is that most low-income workers struggle to do additional jobs or economic activities just to earn additional paltry incomes will pay more tax," the group said.
The SPN also rejected the argument that the tax reforms primarily target big businesses and high-income earners, stressing that in a capitalist economy, corporations typically pass additional costs onto consumers through higher prices, wage suppression, job losses, or casualisation of labour.
According to them, "Nigeria’s economy remains fundamentally capitalist in nature, and under such a system, additional costs imposed on corporations are rarely absorbed by capitalists.”
“Instead, these costs are transferred to consumers through higher prices of goods and services, wage suppression, job losses, or casualisation of labour,” it said.
The SPN further warned that promises of improved public services from increased tax revenue would be undermined by Nigeria’s fiscal priorities and entrenched corruption.
It noted that despite rising revenue projections, a significant portion of government income goes to debt servicing, while education, healthcare, and social welfare remain grossly underfunded.
Describing the tax reform as a political instrument rather than a neutral policy, the SPN said it was designed to shift the burden of the economic crisis onto workers, youths, retirees, and the poor, while protecting elite privilege.
The party rejected calls for mere public hearings, warning that without outright rejection of the tax laws and mass-based resistance, such processes could serve as “procedural cover” for anti-people policies.
It therefore called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and allied civil society groups under a broad Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) to organise mass actions against the tax reforms and other anti-poor policies of the Tinubu administration.